Conversational Gambits
by Fairady
Summary: Will's had worse assignments before, he's just having a hard time remembering one where he's been so cold. Brandt x Benji


Disclaimer: I own not and make no money off of this.

Warnings: Not a whole lot.

Notes: Kink meme, yes the dead one, request for comm confessions.

Conversational Gambits  
by Fairady

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Jane looked stunning in a little black cocktail dress with diamonds dripping from her throat and ears as she laughed at some bland quip. Beside her Ethan in his thousand dollar tux lifted his glass in salute to the supposed brilliant wit and wrapped one arm around Jane's waist. Together they presented the perfect image of a wealthy man and his pretty little trophy wife.

"Laaaame," Benji's voice groaned through the comm line along with the faintest hint of noise that Will classified as clicking keys. The faint hum of polite chatter from Ethan and Jane's end cut off immediately. "Bastard's got enough money you'd think he'd be able to afford a good sense of humor at least."

Privately, Will thought the joke had been pretty good for what it was. An anecdote about the life of a multi-billionaire shipping mogul whose sole concern in life lay in counting profit margins and agonizing about matching Zimmerli socks with Louis Vuitton ties. Still, Will wasn't going to protest not having to hear any more of the man's conversation as Ethan and Jane eased their way into wrangling an invite to the man's well-secured summer retreat.

A cold trickle of water seeped down his neck and Will cursed as he readjusted the hood of his not-quite-water-proof jacket to accommodate the wind change. Picking up the compact binoculars he focused back in on the dinner party in the next building, "I'm being dead serious when I say that next time, I want to be the one seducing the rich guy."

"Sure," Benji replied cheerfully, and Will didn't need a visual to know the ass was smirking, "soon as we get one who's good enough to treat our little helper right."

"They're moving back in video range," Will said, watching Ethan and Jane wander away from the one blind spot in Benji's surveillance. He waited until they were out of his range of vision before slumping down on the roof, using the high wall he'd been leaning on as a windbreak. "And what exactly would be good enough for me?"

"I've got visual again," Benji replied bruskly, and Will could hear more tapping as Benji hummed thoughtfully. The silence stretched out as Benji worked the cameras to keep their teammates in sight. "Well, for starters, he'd have to be an actual rich guy. Not like that poser Jane had to deal with last month."

That 'poser' had been in deep with China and had been rich enough to afford the type of security that was easier to get around from the inside than the outside. Will rubbed his hands together briskly, trying to get some feeling back into the chilly flesh. "At this point, I'd be willing to make nice with anyone with a heater, or even a good fire. I think there's some homeless guys a block over with a barrel fire I can seduce. Think they'd give me a cardboard box if I'm real good?"

"See, this is why we don't let you out on your own," Benji sighed theatrically, the clicking paused. "You're not picky enough. God only knows what you'll come back with if we let pick your own rich guy."

"What can I say? I'm a simple guy, with simple needs," Will murmured, grinning as he imagined the look on Benji's face at that. It was delightfully easy to draw a blush from the techie, just the slightest hint of flirting was enough to throw the man off. It was actually one of Will's favorite things to do. "Got anything easy for me?"

The comm was filled with a sputtering cough and a bit of throat clearing. Will bit back a laugh, thankful Benji had cut them off from their teammates because Jane would read him the riot act over a pass that blatant. Might even throw in a few punches to drive her point home. Her and Ethan really were like a couple of mother bears protecting their cub, constantly reminding Will not to push too far or too often. Not to try to pry more out of Benji than he was willing to-

"And if I did?"

It was Will's turn to sputter at the strangely sly question. He could hear Benji's patented vindictive chuckle through the line, the one he only let loose with when he was about to unleash a truly nasty virus on a system, and Will grudgingly gave the point to him. "Alright, what've you got?"

"Well, the target isn't as rich as I'd like, but he's got more than your homeless guys, so I think you can hope for a bit more than a bit of cardboard," Benji replied immediately. The slightest quaver to his voice giving away his self-consciousness. "Hear he's pretty tech savvy too, that kind usually makes enough to be fairly comfortable."

"He have a heater?" Will asked as Benji stalled out, shivering a little as the winds shifted again. Blowing over the wall he was propped up against.

"Definitely. Central heating, one of those mini portable heaters, and even an electrical blanket," Benji said, clicking away at his board again. "You're really hung up over that point aren't you?"

"I'm freezing my ass off," Will replied bluntly. Tucking his hands up under his armpits he was trying to remember the many other times he'd been this miserable before, and was having a hard time coming up with how he'd coped then. "Can't seduce anyone with a blue-tinged ass and icy hands. Unless the target wouldn't mind warming me up."

"Icy hands, gah!" Benji said and it almost sounded regretful. "Sorry, mate, I think he'd rather throw you into a hot shower than let you touch him."

"Yeah?" Will felt a smile drag his lips up wistfully at the thought. A hot shower sounded fucking amazing. Almost as amazing as being pushed, naked, into said hot shower by Benji. Who would also be naked, because the thought of that? Was enough to get a little bit of warmth to various numb extremities. "And then what?"

"And then what, what?" Benji asked sounding a little flustered, and a little like he'd been thinking too.

"After I've warmed up," Will turned his body to face the rather shitty -according to Benji- camera on the rooftop. He tilted his head up enough to give it a broad grin, a flash of white that'd be badly pixelated on Benji's end. "Would the target let me touch him then, let me seduce him?"

"Um, yes, I think, yes, he definitely would," Benji muttered almost too low for the comms to pick up. "I- Oh, Dagwood and Blondie are preparing to leave."

Finally! As interesting as this conversation was getting, Will really, really wanted to be in out of the weather and in drier clothes. He also desperately wanted to be able to watch Benji and pick apart all his physical tics and tells. "Did they get what we needed?"

"No, they didn't," Benji said, half-distracted as the clicking of keys -absent for a while- picked up. "It's- Wait, we might have- Yes, yes we've got it! Cutting it a bit close there," something hissed across the comm and Will strained to hear anything else. "Alright, you can pull out, Beasley."

"I didn't think that'd be a problem with guys, Elmo," Cheesy but he could only work with the lines Benji fed him. Will wasted no time getting out of there. The roof access door shut behind him, locking in place as he jogged down the stairs. The relief from the elements was immediate and Will groaned at the first hint of heat. The faint sound that drew from Benji in reply was too interesting for Will to resist though. "So..."

"What?" Benji sounded startled and Will would bet everything he was bright red. "Oh, um, yes, still in the van. Expect I'll see you soon then?"

"So," Will continued as if Benji hadn't said anything as he rounded the third floor flight. "Sure, I couldn't tempt the target into a little touching before that shower?"

"Um," Benji stalled and Will knew he only had half the techie's attention right now. The other half watching carefully as Ethan and Jane extracted themselves from the gala event. It wasn't really a fair advantage, but he'd take it.

"Just a kiss," Will said, coming out of the stairwell at the ground floor and nonchalantly strolling through the confusing hallways of the apartment building to the front door. "Something to tide me over, until I've warmed up enough to do more."

"I, that sounds," Benji, for all that his attention was split, sure didn't sound distracted as he answered, "reasonable. Yes, I'm sure that'd be quite doable."

"Good," Will braced himself as he entered the street outside, hunching his shoulder against the weather. Ignoring the pretty looking couples exiting the posh hotel to his right, he turned left and jogged down the street. Stopping by a battered looking van, he knocked rapidly before sliding the door open just enough to slip in.

The abrupt change in light made him pause for a second to let his eyes adjust. The air inside the van was heavy and hot from the equipment. Will focused in on Benji who had his back to him. Video feeds open and showing Ethan handing Jane into the hot rod vehicle that had made Ethan's eyes gleam when he'd first seen it.

Will leaned over Benji's shoulder -carefully, pointedly not touching him- and watched them drive away before he said anything, "So, a kiss is doable?"

"Uh, I-" Benji's fingers flew across the board, shutting down processes, cutting off links, and closing the whole thing down. Even after he was finished, his fingers still moved, looking for something to do as Benji pointedly didn't look at Will. The air seemed to grow heavier as Will waited for Benji's next move. "Well..."

"Oh, for Christ's sake. Kiss him already!"

It was hard for Will to tell who jumped higher as Jane's voice whipped across the comm line.

"Blondie!" Benji gasped out, and Will was close enough to see the red staining the tips of Benji's ear.

"I've been listening to you two flirt all damn night. Just get it over with and never, ever, use the comms for this kind of talk again."

"You heard that," and now Will was certain that his own ears were turning red as he closed his eyes. "I thought-"

"Yeah, I, uh, just muted the sound coming from Blondie and Dagwood," Benji turned and offered up a sheepish grin. "Didn't want to compromise the security though so I left our line unmuted, and, uh, kinda forgot about it..."

Ethan's amused snort came across the line clear as day, and Will let his head fall back on his neck with a helpless laugh. "Right, anything else you guys need from us?"

"No," Ethan said, and the amount of meaning he could put behind a single word was truly awe inspiring. Jane's silence was pointed.

Will fished the ear bud out and powered it off, watching Benji belatedly do the same. They sat in silence for a bit. Benji gently closed the laptop and turned to Will. Taking a deep breath he clasped his hands together, "Well! Now that we've utterly and completely humiliated ourselves in front of our teammates," Benji said with a bright grin that wasn't entirely fake, "How about that kiss?"

Will almost asked Benji if the target they'd been discussing was close by, but fingers wound tight into the slick fabric of his coat and yanked him down before he could. The kiss was less of a kiss than a collision of their faces before Will found his balance enough to pull back and soften his mouth. Melding their lips together and licking along Benji's lower lip until the other man relaxed just enough for Will to slide in. The bitter flavor of coffee exploded across his tongue as Benji moaned.

"Jesus you're cold!" Benji exclaimed as they broke apart. Will panting and wanting nothing more than to go back for more, but Benji's arms pushed him back as the man grumbled, "And wet. You're positively soaked, mate."

"Yeah," Will chased the lingering taste of coffee and stared openly as Benji shuffled up into the drivers seat. Allowing himself to enjoy the way his pants moved as he was forced to contort himself into the seat. "Someone said something about a shower though."

The van came to life with a purr that belied it's battered exterior, and Will watched as Benji looked in the rear-view mirror. Only his eyes visible but they were crinkled up in a smile, "And someone else said several somethings about what would happen afterwards."

All in all, Will reflected as the van pulled away from the curb, it wasn't a bad end to a mission.

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End file.
